A Broken Soul
by Miyako Miyazaki
Summary: What if Yoh didn't go to save Ren from his father? What if he used Hao's help to do so AFTER the shaman tournament? Is it too late for the Tao siblings? R
1. Chapter 1

Hey again, I couldn't settle for one shaman king fic, so this is a new one. This takes place after Yoh and Ren's fight, and when Ren went to fight his Father Tao En… well, this chapter anyways.

Summary: After Ren was imprisoned by his father, what happens if Anna had stopped Yoh from rescuing him? That is until the end of the shaman tournament, when Hao, the shaman king, noticed the depressed Yoh, and decides to help Ren out. But was it too late?

Warning: this's a yaoi fic, and it may contain some mature stuff, so if you don't like it, then stop right now and go back; I will not accept any flame.

**A Broken Soul **

"Ren-Bocchama was defeated, was extremely wounded by his father,"

Bason told the tale of what happened bitterly, "And was imprisoned into his room, which is located in underground."

Anna and the others where listening to every word. "Imprisoned?" Yoh asked.

"I beg you; the only people who can rescue Bocchama are you guys!" Bason lowered his head, "Please!"

"Seriously," HoroHoro sighed, hands behind his head, "Ren is always causing trouble."

That got him to be pinched on his cheek by his sister Pirika, "Aww..w..w..w!"

"Emm," Yoh frowned, "Even though we really want to help him…" he trailed off glancing at Anna, which caused Manta and the rest to look at her too, waiting for a response from her.

Anna stood there, leaning against a wall, arms crossed, "I understand the situation you're in, Bason."

All of them smiled widely at Anna's words, thinking she was going to let them save Ren.

However, she pushed herself from the wall, "That's that, today's trainings the electric air chair for one hour."

They felt their jaws drop, "EH-HAAH?"

"I f you have any complaints, I'll make it ten hours." with that she started walking into the onsen.

"Wait, Anna!" Yoh called out.

Anna stopped at the door and put a hand on the door frame, back to them, "The Tao family is dangerous."

"What do you mean?" Manta asked.

"Its history probable surpasses the Asakura family. An assassin group that was started 3000 years ago, that's the Tao family." Anna began, "When there's a bloody history, the Tao family was always involved in the assassination. Even though they did decline, going to their headquarters is too dangerous." Anna glared over her shoulder at them, "And it's because of a father and son fight."

"It's not just a father and son fight!" Bason shouted.

Yoh and HoroHoro were thinking this over.

"Then let me ask you this," Anna said, "Why did Tao Ren revolt against his own father?"

The rest turned to Bason for the answer.

"Well," Bason hesitated, "Ren-Bocchama didn't explane that to me either. Except that he told me that he's going to cut the hatred rope that crosses all over the world."

Anna frowned, "Don't bring Yoh to the fight for that worthless reason!"

"Hey, Anna…" Yoh tried again, weakly this time.

"Yoh, you only have a month until the main tournament!" she glared at him, "There are so many things you have to do until then."

"What the heck?"

Anna narrowed her eyes, "You're going to train more." with that she went inside.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later after Ryu had joined Yoh to rescue Ren.

"Is this Oracle Bell real?" Manta asked, "That means Ryu-san is also participating in the shaman fight!"

"And I didn't expect Ryu's spirit to be Tokagero." Yoh laughed, "It's getting interesting!"

"That's not interesting at all!" Manta said.

"I wenton so many journeys to find best place," Ryu started, "I started to think that best place isn't something you find, it's something that you have to create. By becoming shaman king!" he stood, "Now, shall we go, yoh-danna?"

"What do you mean?" HoroHoro asked.

Ryu smiled down at them, "To where Ren is, right?"

Yoh smiled, "Yeah."

"What?" Manta gasped, "You're telling me that you're going to rescue him together? Even though he gave you a terrible experience?"

"I support the guy who doesn't have a place to go." Ryu looked at the horizon, "I'm going to tell him that… best place does exist."

"Wait a minute!" HoroHoro said, "Beside Ryu and me, what you going to do with Amidamaru and Bason?"

That seemed to remind Tamao, "Ponchi and Konchi, too!"

"I guess we have to ask that person." Yoh smile nervously, putting a hand behind his head, "We have no other choice."

"What do you mean by 'we have no other choice'?"

Yoh looked nervously behind him to where the voice came from.

Anna's voice.

Anna along with Pirika were walking toward them.

Afew minutes later.

"Yoh-donno!" Amidamaru cried as he clung at Yoh.

"Sorry for causing you trouble, Anna," Yoh smiled, having his spirit's arms around his neck, still crying, "But why are you in a place like this?"

Anna only looked at him at first but then…

_**SLAP**_

All the chatting stopped at the sound of the slap.

Yoh held his cheek, eyes wide, "A-Anna…"

"Yoh," Anna glared at Yoh, "I remember I told you not to go on this stupid journey to save the Chinese boy. Why did you defy me?"

"But Anna, Ren's my friend, and he needs me now the most. If I didn't help him, who will?"

That's right, "HoroHoro agreed, "We have to save him, he might die if we didn't!"

"I don't care what happens to that boy," Anna crossed her arms, "You have a tournament to be ready for, and that's that!"

"Miss, Anna-" Ryu wanted to talk her into rescuing Ren, but she cut him off, "I said I _don't_ care, so unless you want to face my wrath, go there, and see what will happen to you, Yoh, if I don't become the wife of the shaman king because of this!"

With that, they looked at the ground, disappointed.

"Let's go back!" Anna commanded, and they followed her.

Yoh glanced back briefly, "Ren, I'm sorry…"

**END CHAPTER**

So, this is the beginning, after that just the shaman tournament and I don't want to go through that. So I'll just skip it to the end of it.

Well, hope you like the fic and review to it.

See ya all in the next chapter.

**Miako6**


	2. To Save Ren!

Hey again, I couldn't settle for one shaman king fic, so this is a new one. This takes place after Yoh and Ren's fight, and when Ren went to fight his Father Tao En… well, this chapter anyways.

Summary: After Ren was imprisoned by his father, what happens if Anna had stopped Yoh from rescuing him? That is until the end of the shaman tournament, when Hao, the shaman king, noticed the depressed Yoh, and decides to help Ren out. But was it too late?

Warning: this's a yaoi fic, and it may contain some mature stuff, so if you don't like it, then stop right now and go back; I will not accept any flame.

**A Broken Soul **

"And we announce Hao as the shaman king!"

Cheers went on as the shaman tournament has finally ended with the results of Hao becoming the shaman king.

Yoh stood by his brother's side, they met and fought as enemies at first, but then Yoh had gotten Hao to his good side with his carefree attitude, which shocked everyone.

But most of them were worried; no one had seen Ren during the entire the tournament, and knowing Ren, he wouldn't have lost from the beginning; he was stronger than that so something must have stopped him from coming.

And Yoh had a pretty good idea what that was, '_It's my fault_' he sighed.

"Yoh?" Hao asked when he heard Yoh Sigh. Yoh looked at him and sighed again, "Oh, sorry…"

"Is something bothering you?"

Yoh glanced at the grassy ground, sadly, "I didn't find him…"

Horo, Faust, Ryo, Manta and Pirika realized what Yoh was talking about and looked down also; they had tried to find the Chinese shaman during the last 4 months, but no one heard anything about him.

Chocolove and the people who hadn't know the Tao were puzzled, "Eh… who is this you didn't find?"

"Ren," Horo murmured, "Tao Ren, he should have been here in this tournament, he's strong… but he didn't come…" he looked away.

"Tao Ren." Lyserg repeated, and Chocolove got his note book, "Tao Ren… Tao Ren…" he flicked through the pages, "I can't find his name, which means he never got here."

"So, what's the problem? He may not have wanted to compete!" Lyserg reasoned.

Manta shook his head, "No, Ren was determined to come and become the shaman king! He even was close to kill Yoh-kun to do so!!"

"Then what happened, Tanma? Why didn't he come?" Hao asked, concerned.

A vein popped on Manta's forehead, "For the thousand times! My name isn't Tanma!!"

Hao laughed as he kneeled down, "Haha, I'm sorry, Tanma, I didn't realize!"

"Hao sama!" Opacho called and Hao looked at her questioningly, "His name is Manta, not Tanma."

Hao laughed again, "Yeah, you're right, Opacho!" he returned to Manta, still smiling, "You're not angry, ne, Tanma?"

Manta sweat-dropped, "Gah, I give up!"

Hao smiled and looked at Opacho, "He doesn't mind it after all, see?"

Nearly everyone sweat-dropped at him, thinking the same thing, '_Just how did he become the shaman king?_'

"Anyways," he suddenly was serious, "Anyone knows what happens to this Tao Ren, or an idea at least?"

They looked at each others and nodded, "Actually, we do!" Yoh said and they told him about what had happened between Ren and his father.

"Saa," Hao pondered with himself, tapping his chin, "So, this Tao father figure imprisoned Ren because he wanted him to turn back evil."

They nodded, "Pretty much that's it!"

"Well, then." He looked up at the sky and called, "Spirit of Fire!"

In no time, the spirit of fire was by its master. Hao smiled, "Can you get me Bason?"

The spirit threw its head back and let out a laud noise, then looked down again then disappeared.

"Where did it go?" Chocolove asked, "I mean, how is it going to get this Bason?"

"Someone called?" a ghost suddenly appeared in front of them, making chocolove go, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

"I did!" Hao rose his hand up childishly.

"Eh…," Bason blinked, "How can I help you?"

"Well, I needed you to guide us to the Tao manors!" Hao laughed, "We want to get Ren out."

"Bason!" Horo shouted, "Hao became the shaman king, and he's going to help get Ren back!"

Bason's eyes widened, "Ren-Bocchama? You're going to save him?"

Hao nodded, "Yeah, we are!"

"Oh, _THANK_ _YOU_!!! You don't know how _happy_ I am to hear that!!! Finally Ren-Bocchama will be saved, and by the _shaman_ _king_ too!!!"

"It's ok," Hao replied as he tried to get Bason, who was hugging and crying on him, off of him, "I know you're _happy_, but let me _breathe_!!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon, they got onto the spirit of fire, and flew to china, and to the Tao mansion, which most of them gawked at, "_That's_ Ren's _house_!?" Horo shouted, pointing at the huge mansion.

Bason nodded, "It's dangerous there, we have to be careful so that we-"he realized that they had gone to the mansion without him, "ACK! Wait for me! You don't know your way around there, and it's dangerous!!!"

After a while, they were in the main hall, it was so silent it made chills go through them, "Freaky…" Horo gulped.

"Flirty!!" Chocolove jumped in clad in a pink sleeveless shirt and a red skirt with high-heeled shoes, but was soon met with a fist from Horo, "Baka! It's no time for your stupid jokes!!!"

"Stop right there!"

They stopped and looked to see the source of the voice.

"Up there!!" Yoh pointed out, and they saw five strange creatures standing tall, looking down at them.

"Where's Ren?" Horo shouted over to them.

"It's not your concern where he is, your concern now should be your lives!" one of them said, but they couldn't make out who it was, "Go back, before it's too late and we change our minds."

"Dream on! Now tell us where Ren is!" Hao gritted his teeth together; that guy's attitude was getting on his nerves.

"Then you choose to fight us," the five creatures got into fighting stances, "And we chose to kill you all!"

And they attacked.

Four of them were killed easily by Horo, Lyserg, Chocolove and Faust. The last one, however was proving to be a problem; he knocked Horo and Ryo out easily, even Yoh had troubles fighting him.

"See?" the last creature laughed mockingly, "You could never defeat the master!!"

Hao and the others, who were watching and waiting for the right time to interfere, decided that they had had enough; Hao summoned the Spirit of fire and got his fire sword, "That's it! You're going down!"

Before anyone could say anything, Hao had cut through him and left him on the floor for a second before stabbing the heart and finishing him off, "That's better."

"Hey," Horo, who had just came back to his senses yelled, "You could have done that from the start and got it over with!!"

"Gome," Hao laughed, "I thought you could handle them!"

"Cheesh!"

"Let's continue now" Ryo put in, trying to destruct Horo for now, "We should find Ren!"

"I have to say," a voice suddenly boomed around them, "That was pretty impressive!"

They looked around yet again to find the person who said that, but saw nothing, "Who's there?" Lyserg shouted, he was fed up with these mysterious calls.

A laugh was heard, "I thought you'd have known who I am by now, isn't that right, Bason?"

Bason's eyes widened as he realized who it was, "Tao En!"

"What?" they shouted, so they were finally going to face the head of the Tao family.

The laugh was heard again, "Head up if you want to get your precious Ren back, you need to fight me first, however…"

"However what?" Hao yelled, this Tao En guy was sure worse than the last dude.

"However, even if you won against me, is it too late to save Ren?" He mocked them, "Is he even alive to try and get him?"

"What have you done to Ren?" Yoh shouted, he never liked when one of his friends got hurt, "Where's he?"

"Wouldn't you want to know?" En said, "I didn't check on him for a week now, last time I did, he was barely alive, so by now he might be dead already!"

"How could you?" Horo screamed, "How could you do that to your son, you bastard??"

"He's NOT my son! I refuse to call that worthless, good-for-nothing a son!" En shouted, "Ren and Jun are not Taos anymore! I have disowned them both!"

"Where are you?" Hao hissed; Tao En was more evil than he himself ever was.

"Oh, so you want to fight!" En laughed yet again, "Bason knows where to find me."

"Bason!!" They all turned to Bason, who nodded and headed towards the stairs.

They followed.

It wasn't long before the reached a huge door, where Bason stopped by, "Tao En should be here…"

"Hao!" Yoh called and Hao nodded then pushed the door open.

The room was wide and dark, and it was empty of anything.

"Uhhh…where's this Tao En person?" Horo mumbled to himself as they got in the room and to the middle of it.

"Strange," Bason looked around, "He must be here somewhere."

Chocolove, Ryo, Lyserg, Yoh, Manta, Pirika, Faust, Horo and Hao searched the place, but they found nothing.

"He's keeping Ren, mistreating him and Jun!" Yoh growled, "WHERE ARE YOU, TAO EN??"

"Behind you."

They gasped as they turned around; there was Tao En, a Huge man if you asked them, he nearly reached the roof of the room.

"Tao En!" Bason acknowledged.

"T-_THAT_ is Ren's _father_?!?!" Horo shouted pointing at the Tao.

"God…" Faust stared .

En chuckled, "Show me what you got!"

"That's not his real body, idiots!" Hao shouted at them.

"Wh-what? It's not?" Chocolove stuttered.

"No," Hao smirked, "That's just some hundreds of souls put together making his furyuko huge."

"That's furiyuko?" Yoh blinked.

"But it's nothing for the shaman king to handle." He got his spirit of fire and made his sword, "Even Chocolove or Horo alone can defeat him now."

"What? But he's huge and strong!" Chocolove cried out.

"Besides, he took Ren down, and Ren's stronger than us!!" Horo shouted too.

"Are you sure about that?" Hao glanced at them, smirking, "You got a hell lot stronger during the shaman tournament, or have you forgotten?"

"uh!" they blinked and thought it over, "That's right… we got hundreds of times stronger than what we have been before!"

(A/N: Well, duh! They DID get stronger didn't they? It's only logical…)

"Yeah, we shouldn't even take time defeating him!" Yoh smiles at them.

"All right!" Chocolove cheered, "Mic!!"

The spirits appeared besides him, "Let's gets ready for another battle, Mic!"

The jaguar roared with excitement.

"Kororo!" Horo called and got ready, too.

The others stood back, ready to give them help if they needed to, "We're counting on you, do your best!!" Ryo called to them.

"Don't worry; we'll win this!" Horo called back.

And they attacked.

**TO BE CONTINUED **

Ok, this is it for this chapter, I hope you al liked it.

Please, review and tell me what you think!

In the next chapter we'll see what happened to Ren and Jun. Are you ready nfor the surprise?


	3. Found, but

Hey again, I couldn't settle for one shaman king fic, so this is a new one. This takes place after Yoh and Ren's fight, and when Ren went to fight his Father Tao En.

Summary: After Ren was imprisoned by his father, what happens if Anna had stopped Yoh from rescuing him? That is until the end of the shaman tournament, when Hao, the shaman king, noticed the depressed Yoh, and decides to help Ren out. But was it too late?

Warning: this's a yaoi fic, and it may contain some mature stuff, so if you don't like it, then stop right now and go back; I will not accept any flame.

**Last time.**

"_All right!" Chocolove cheered, "Mic!!"_

_The spirits appeared besides him, "Let's gets ready for another battle, Mic!"_

_The jaguar roared with excitement._

"_Kororo!" Horo called and got ready, too. _

_The others stood back, ready to give them help if they needed to, "We're counting on you, do your best!!" Ryo called to them._

"_Don't worry; we'll win this!" Horo called back._

_And they attacked._

**A Broken Soul **

"Foolish weakling!" Tao En shouted.

"Growing a weird mustache like that. Let's go!" Horo called. "Roger that!" Chocolove answered as they both attacked En, who disappeared then reappeared behind them. Horo turned back fast and tried to land a blow on En, but it was dodged, "Just why do you want to save that pathetic excuse of a shaman, anyways!?"

"Because Ren is our friend!" Yoh shouted as he joined the fight, sending several blows at once with his sword, making various holes on En's body, "How?" he cried out as he sensed that he wasn't going to last long, "how are you able to do it?"

"Because," Hao smirked, "We do it for each other with each other!" then he glared, "And because we want Ren with us!"

"I won't admit it!" they all stood back as they watched En re-built his body again, "I will… absolutely…" he fisted his hand as it was re-built again, "Not admit it!"

"I will not admit it!!" Tao En screamed as he attacked again. Extending his arm, En landed a dangerously strong punch on the floor, breaking it. They jumped in time to avoid it.

"Opacho scared…" Opacho cowered, but looked up when a hand landed it self on her shoulder. Hao smiled down at her and nodded making her smile back, now re-assured.

"Cheh," Chocolove huffed, "He's tough, seriously!"

"Does he really think he's going to win using his furyoku like that??" Horo glared.

"Furyoku?" Manta asked, puzzled.

Yoh smiled, "No human can do anything like that exist in this world." Hao nodded, "That's Over-soul."

"That's how it is!" Manta thought it over, then felt a hand on his head and he looked up to see who it was. "Yoh-kun and the others aren't attacking him haphazardly," Faust scooped him up, "They found out the secret of Tao En and reducing his furyoku."

"I won't admit it!!" En shouted as he attacked once again. "Take this, mustache!" Horo and Chocolove made a double attack that took En by surprise and he fell backward.

"They repelled En's attack!" Lyserg smiled as he and the others watched on, ready if needed.

Horo blinked, "Wasn't that punch a lighter?"

"No matter how big the over-soul is, if the mind that creates it becomes entangled, it becomes brittle." Hao explained.

"Is that so?" Ryu cocked his head to the side.

"Oh, well," Horo smirked, "Looks like he can't accept defeat."

"If the mind which creates furyoku becomes weak, power to incarnate over-soul becomes weaker." Hao smirked too.

"Me? Entangled?" En shouted, panting, "That's nonsense! The path I followed has no flaws!! There's no way I could have doubted it in my mind!"

Hao's smirk widened, "Then I'll prove it to you!" with that he lunged at En, who tried to punch him, but Hao jumped up high then landed powerful hit with his sword on En, blasting his body to shreds.

Silence.

All the shamans stared; amazed at the site before them.

Hundreds of souls filled the room around them. In the middle of them a form appeared.

"That's," Hao whispered, "Tao En's true self."

A man, wearing the traditional Chinese clothes glared at them.

"That's Tao En?" Manta asked.

"Wow, he looks pretty normal." Yoh stared at him.

"But, mustache!" Horo sighed, cutting in.

"How can he be normal?" Bason asked, looking back at En, "At least, he kept his over-soul for more than ten years!"

"That furyoku is enormous!" Ryu gasped.

"And," Bason continued, "He took Ren bocchama down easily!"

"I didn't expect you to break down my over-soul, Daidohoh!" En said, "But I was neither entangled or had doubt in my mind; I was just surprised."

"That's what you call having doubt in mind!!!" Ryu shouted, a vein throbbing on his fore-head.

"Stop talking nonsense, mustache!!" Horo joined, a bigger vein throbbing on his fore-head.

"That's right," En sighed, "How could I ever have doubt in my mind?"

"He's not listening…" Chocolove sweat-dropped.

"If you know how ignoble and helpless they are…" he stared up, his mind going else where, "If you know those truths…they'll recite everything."

"Who built two thousands years of Tao family's history?" En glared, holding a sword in his hand, "The souls of our ancestors." The souls flouted back and forth around him.

"What is that?" Manta shuddered.

"Us, the Tao family, have always worked under the dynasty. For the world's peace and prosperity, burying many lives to the darkness. Throwing into dangerous situation, and sustaining history. With the advance of civilization, our shaman abilities were despised. In the end we were looked as if we were monsters and were detested. We were kicked out of the capital and sent to the frontier. And thrown into the darkness of history. We were betrayed by the people who we risked life for. And how?" by now tears were running down En's face, "How could I trust others?"

They stood silent for a moment.

"I kind of feel pity for that story…" Lyserg murmured.

"My over-soul Daidohoh is the converged souls of my ancestors, I have to succeed their volition. I have to be with their souls at all times! I was not deceiving you all, as the master of the Tao family, I have to engrave Tao family's name into history once again!!"

"Ren," En narrowed his eyes, "I did not let him say that he forgot the Tao family's history. I did not let him say that he forgot the humiliation that our family received!"

They held their breaths at that.

"What did you do to him?" Hao hissed.

"Ren had to be punished for having doubt in his mind," En answered, "However, he was too stubborn for his own good; I had to make him suffer watching his sister Jun get tortured, she too had doubt in her mind. I used everything on them… Ren; whipping, electrocution, starving… everything! Nothing worked. I even killed his mother and grandfather in front of his and Jun's very eyes, they defied me, saying I was going too harsh on them."

The others stared at him in shock as he said that, "You heartless bastard…he's your son!!" Faust shouted.

"Wrong!" En shouted, "No son of a Tao should be as disgraceful as Ren was!"

"…_was_…?" Yoh muttered.

"What do you mean 'was'?" Horo seemed to have noticed the same thing as Yoh, "Where's Ren?"

"I left him with his sister in their prison to rot," En answered, "It has been a week since I last saw him." A twisted grin then appeared on his face, "He was in pretty bad shape then, and I, personally, don't think he's still alive by now."

Hao's pupils became slits; for some reason he felt responsible of Ren, "Just tell us where Ren is, or else!"

"Or else what?" En glared back, "Don't think you're scaring me, _kid_!"

"Or else I'll kill you," then he smirked evilly, "And to let you know, this _kid_ as you call me, is the shaman _king_!"

"What!?" En's eyes widened, then narrowed again, "Well, no matter. I'll fight you and kill you, or die trying!"

"You'll die trying, then." Hao readied his sword again, "For I will not show you mercy, just like you didn't show your own son and daughter any mercy."

"Fair enough." Tao En readied his sword and took his own stance, "I'll see how determined you are." He held his sword up in front of his face, "Over-soul, daidohryu!! All the souls from 2000 yeas of history, suck all my furyoku up!"

All the souls that were roaming around gathered up in his sword and formed a huge dragon over-soul, "Daichuuka Rasen!"

The dragon attacked them but they got out of its way just in time.

"My spirit of fire and I will show you just how determined we are, Tao En!" Hao shouted as he jumped up high, the dragon following him, then turned and stabbed his sword into its head, breaking the furyoku apart and continued his attack until he reached En, who only got to gasp before he too was consumed by Hao's attack.

Tao En was no more.

END CHAPTER!!!

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(A/N: Naah… just kiddin'… but I seriously wanted to end it there… it's already five pages long… well, on with the rest of this chapter, shall we?)

"We did it!" Horo and Chocolove jumped excitedly as Hao landed on the floor, "And he went down fighting."

"Hao!" Yoh ran up to him, "We got to find Ren!" Hao nodded, "I know where he is now."

"You do?" they all asked. Hao smiled, "Aa, I read his mind before I finished him."

They all fell over anime style.

"You could have done that from the start, you baka!!" Horo screamed getting up. Hao laughed, rubbing his cheek with his index finger, "I forgot to that before."

They fell over again.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Are we there yet?" Ryu called, bored.

"Almost there!" Hao called back, "We need to get down stairs to the undergrounds first."

They have been walking for 15 minutes now.

"Does something smell bad to you, or is it just me?" Lyserg asked, sniffing the air. "There is," Chocolove agreed, "It's getting stronger the deeper we go down there."

"Death." Faust stated calmly, leave it to him to find death, "Something dead is down there."

They gulped, hoping it wasn't who they thought.

"We're here…" Bason whispered as they reached the undergrounds, "Ren-bocchama could be in any cell of those."

"The smell is getting awful!!" Manta covered his nose as they passed many cells. "Don't worry, Tanma. We'll get out of here as soon as we get Ren with us."

"I won't even bother this time…" Manta sweat-dropped.

They passed a few cells, which still had the remains of its prisoners, making them shiver.

"Stop"

Stopping to a halt seeing as Hao held his hand out. "What is it?" Yoh asked.

Hao looked behind over his shoulder, "We found him, I think."

Silence fell over them.

Horo, Manta, Ryu and Yoh held their breaths as they moved forwards, eager to see their lost friend, but too afraid to look in.

In front of them was a scary looking cell that the smell seemed to be emitting from strongly now. It was so dark and gloomy looking it sent the creeps down their spines.

"This is it." Bason gulped, and they nodded.

Hao opened the cell door, which made a creaking sound as it opened, then stepped in, followed by Yoh and the trio close behind.

Yoh's eyes landed on a still form that was chained to a dragon-like chair and his eyes widened, "REN!"

Ren didn't stir.

Yoh, Horo, Ryu and Manta were about to run to him, but Hao stopped them, "Leave this to me." he then went to him, observing his still form.

Ren had his hands chained up above his head. He was shirtless and you could see and count his ribs easily. His pants were ripped and his legs were held apart on either side of the dragon chair-like. His whole body looked extremely abused; he was all black and blue, bruises and injuries decorated his whole body. His hair was down and looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. His face showed unspeakable pain.

Hao's eyes softened as he felt a bang in his heart, '_tears_…' there were dried tears on Ren's cheeks and Hao reached out to touch the once smooth skin.

"Ren Bocchama…" Bason stared at his master.

"Hao…?"

Hao looked back and saw them staring back at him, waiting.

He looked back at Ren and something caught his eyes, "Faust, come here. He's alive, but he needs your help quickly."

Faust rushed in without any further talking and started his work.

In the main while the other remaining inspected the cell. Chocolove glanced at the other side of the cell, and let out a gasp catching the other's attention to him, but he only pointed at something, "H-how cruel…."

Chained to the wall was what corpse of someone, their hands were tied up over their head much like Ren was, green hair untied falling over the bony shoulders. Its head barely had any skin on and threatened to fall off and the sockets were black; empty. They were wearing green ripped and worn chinese traditional dress, giving them the idea that whoever this person was, was a female. But the most disturbing thing was the worms and small bugs that ate at the remaining flesh of the corpse.

"That must have been Jun…" Horo whispered as he darted his eyes away, unable to look anymore. "Ren must have been forced to watch her die and… rot in front of his eyes. Stare on… unable to do anything to stop it." Yoh sighed, closing his eyes, "How heartless."

The others closed their eyes in respect.

"Done for now," Faust and his wife stepped away from Ren, Who looked less paler than before, "I have given him some furyoku, that should last for a while. But we need to get him out of this place and treat him properly."

Hao nodded and gathered Ren in his arms, but froze when the unconscious boy stirred, "…Ren?"

Ren's eyes flickered a bit, then slowly opened them to reveal a shocking golden eyes that almost took Hao's breath away, though he was sure that his heart skipped a beat.

Ren looked up at the person above him, he was sure he was hallucinating; it wasn't the first time this happened. How many times had he seen Yoh there, coming and freeing him, how many times? But this person wasn't Yoh, he had longer hair and his clothes were different, but that wasn't important now, was it? If he was going to die, then his mind was bound to see things. With a sigh he closed his eyes contently, feeling safe in this imaginary person's arms.

Hao's eyes softened again as he saw Ren slip into unconsciousness once more, but not before reading his thoughts, '_He must have been waiting too long for Yoh to come… sad, indeed_…'

"Unchain the girl," Hao commanded as he scooped Ren up, "We're going to bury her…properly."

"It's my entire fault," Yoh whispered, clinching his fists tightly, tears threatened to fall, "If we came to his rescue before, this wouldn't have happened. Jun wouldn't be dead…"

They listened to Yoh, cursing Anna in every language they knew.

Gazing back at Ren, Hao swore to himself that he would never let anyone hurt him like this again.

And they left the Tao manors without any regrets.

**END CHAPTER**

This time seriously. Ok, nine pages… not bad, ne?

So, what do you think of this chapter so far? I know I used episode 24 for the fighting scenes, but I couldn't do it before without it, so please forgive me!!!!

Now, for those who thought that Ren and Jun would be fine, think twice next time, Hehe.

So, you have any idea what's going to happen next, mina? This is a challenge for those who tried before.

Now, I'll see if I could finish my other shaman fic 'My Destiny', too. It's 5:30 AM and I'll be updating this fic when I get home later this day, I'll be having few hours to write, a class at 8 AM, I may write in the bus ride back to home… that _if_ I didn't sleep, I didn't sleep since the day before, so if you don't find the other fic, know that I _did_ sleep in the bus.

I'd love to update this at once but the university's system blocked fanfiction this semester, damn them!! So, I have to wait 'till I get home… cheh.

Enough of this nonsense, R&R, please!

**Miako6 **


	4. Comfort

Ok… my excuses are- ducks under a bed, flying objects pass by her barely missing… pops her head out hey, at least let me finish!!! a lap top hits her head ugh... faints

Disclaimer: Me no own. Now seriously, do you think if I owned it it'd be posted here?

Warning: this's a yaoi fic, and it may contain some mature stuff, so if you don't like it, then stop right now and go back; I will not accept any flame.

**A Broken Soul**

"How is he now?"

Faust stood from where he was sitting tending on Ren, "Way better than before." He dipped his hands into a bowl of water on a table beside the door, "Though I must say, it's just beyond my comprehension how he managed to survive that long."

'_Must be his hope of being rescued by Yoh_' Hao sighed, "When do you think he'll wake up?"

"Should be any time; but give him water to drink and something soft to eat, his stomach wouldn't be able to handle heavy food; not after being starved for so long." He nodded to Hao, "I'll be leaving now, take care of him, but don't tire yourself too much."

Hao smiled, "You know me too well, huh?" Faust laughed and left the room.

Hao chuckled some more as he made his way to Ren's bed. He knelt down and traced a line on his cheek, "How did it feel, Ren?" his expression turned serious, "How did it feel to watch your sister die slowly in front of you, or your mother and grandfather being killed because they felt your father was going hard on you, and again in front of you?" his eyes narrowed as he saw a flicker from the other boy's eyes, "You must be feeling guilt eating up at your heart, don't you?"

"Hao?" Hao looked over his should to see Yoh, along with HoroHoro and Manta, standing by the door, "Faust said Ren could be waking anytime."

Hao nodded, "He's waking up" he returned to watching the boy in the bed. Yoh and the other two walked over to them, "That mustache made sure to make him feel his wrath."

"… 'Oh…"

Their attention was quickly taken by Ren, who was slowly but surely waking up. Yoh moved closer to him, seeing as the boy called his name, "Ren, you awake?"

Ren moved his head to the side facing the group, his eyes clinching slightly before opening half way, they moved around the room a bit not sure where he was, then landed on the boy nearest to him, "… Yo..h?"

"Wait, drink this." Yoh took a glass of water that was put on the night-stand incase Ren woke up, and moved it so it rested on Ren's lower lip. Horo had helped the golden eyed boy sit while Yoh retrieved the glass and helped his drink the water, "Drink slowly, don't want you chocking on it." Horo joked, but Ren didn't seem to hear him and drank the water steadily.

As he finished the glass, Horo helped him lay back down on the bed. Ren let out a small sigh, "Where?"

"If you're asking where you are now, it's the Onsen, Japan. And if you're asking where your father is, then he's dead." Manta answered him. Ren stared at him for a while before his eyes widened and he sat up so fast that Yoh was startled, "JUN!"

Hao took the boy's shoulders in both hands and looked into his panicked eyes, "I'm sorry, Ren, but at least we buried her properly."

Ren stared at the new boy, his heart was like a hammer in his chest, but his breath slowed down as he took in what he had just said and tears gathered in his eyes, "I..failed her.."

Hao took a deep breath, he knew this was going to be hard on the younger boy, "No, you didn't fail her; your father did." He wiped the tears that were making their way down the boy's face with his fingers then drew him into an embrace, "She's in a better place now, don't worry."

But it seemed that the truth finally sank in and Ren wept into Hao's shoulder his anguish for his fallen sister.

Yoh, Horo and Manta made their way out of the room, where they saw the rest of their friends standing in looking worried, and ushered them, leaving Ren in the care of Hao.

After what seemed like forever over, Ren calmed down. Hao kept his arms around him, rubbing soothingly on his back.

"Who… are you?"

Hao smiled slightly, "Asakura Hao, Yoh's older twin."

"Yoh?" Ren blinked and pushed away from the embrace enough to look at Hao's face properly, "You… I saw you before…" he ran his eyes over his face and hair, then his clothes. He frowned then gasped in realization, "You were the one who came… I though I was going mad!" he whispered.

Hao smiled at this, "You have a great memory, I see. It was me, alright." Ren sighed and lent his head into Hao's chest and closing his eyes, already trusting his rescuer, "Arigatou… for everything."

"You're welcome, though it was nothing, rest now; you'll have a long day when you wake up."

"Mmm" Ren was already half asleep by this time, Hao thought it was from crying himself to exhaustion. He then lay the sleeping boy on the bed and moved the sheets over him, tucking him in. he stood up and left the room, mind set on making some food for the golden-eyed boy.

**TBC**

Finally got to write it!

I know it was short, but I didn't have enough time to write more, but buttery charge is running low and I'm feeling like throwing up; I hate bus rides. –green face-

Ah, and about the late update, I'm not gonna lie, I'm a lazy author, but I'm NOT abandoning my fics, unlike some other writers, writing something and then abandoning it, ugh.. and the second reason is that, I like reading fics, I spend most of my time reading rather than writing, which make me even more late. Most of you will know what I mean through my reviews to their fics.. hey, I like reading, I can't help it!

Please, review, I'd like to know your opinions.

**Miako6**


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